Hokies planning told-you-so answer against 'Canes

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The reasoning behind Virginia Tech's being ushered out of the national championship picture was obvious to outsiders: a weak schedule top-heavy on home games betrayed the Hokies.

By starting with visits from Central Florida, Division I-AA James Madison, Texas A&M and Connecticut, the rationale went, the Hokies were ill prepared for the adversity they faced at rowdy West Virginia.

They showed it, too, in a 28-7 loss that wasn't that close.

But while many of the same experts who had the Hokies ranked third in both polls -- and in the BCS standings -- are in a told-you-so frame of mind, the Hokies are planning to give their response Saturday night.

It was billed as the game of the year before the loss in Morgantown, a showdown with No. 2 Miami with the path to the Sugar Bowl as the prize.

Now, it's become a pride game for the wounded underdogs, and a chance to inject themselves right back into the running for a BCS bowl berth.

"We've just got to get ourselves back in the picture because after the West Virginia game, a lot of people looked down on us," cornerback Eric Green said this week, the sting of the West Virginia loss lingering.

"This game right here, we can pretty much clean everything up," Green said. "Anybody can clean anything up once you beat Miami. I think this is our opportunity. We beat these guys and then go on from there."

Coach Frank Beamer, who watched with disbelief as his team unraveled against the Mountaineers, said this game will show a lot about this group of Hokies, a test of mettle that could help define his 10th-ranked team.

His players agree.

"Now that we've had time to reflect on what's happened, we can really prove something about what kind of inner strength this team has if we can pull together and get a big win this week," linebacker Brandon Manning said. "This is a great opportunity for us to show what we're made of."

Cornerback Vincent Fuller, who scored Virginia Tech's touchdown against West Virginia, is eager to prove the Hokies' doubters wrong.

"It's definitely a character-building game. It's going to show us and show our fans and show the country what kind of character we have," he said. "It's definitely the kind of scenario you dream of, playing the best in the country. That's one of the reasons why you came to this school."

It's big talk considering the challenge.

Miami (7-0, 3-0 Big East) has won 27 straight in the league since a 43-10 loss in Blacksburg in 1999, and 39 straight in the regular season.

Three of those victories came against Virginia Tech, but Manning said familiarity with Miami strips some of its aura of invincibility.

"We think we have a lot of great athletes on our team. We know we do," he said, "and it's just exciting to play another team with the same amount of athletic ability as us because we know it's going to come down to who plays the better game. I's exciting anytime you play against the best."

And, for all the talk that soldout home games are no place to build character, the Hokies expect nothing short of craziness Saturday night.

"This is Blacksburg, prime-time TV, a night game," linebacker Michael Crawford said. "It's going to be crazy. I can tell you that."